Dept. of Revenue belongs downtown

I have never written many letters to you for publication, but now I take this opportunity to write this one about an issue that I think is of great importance to the people of Jackson and of our state.

I refer to the proposal to acquire or lease the Landmark Building on Capitol Street in downtown Jackson where it would be occupied by the State Department of Revenue.

This plan makes sense by every reasonable standard. It will save us taxpayers a lot of money. It will be a central and convenient location for one of the state's most important agencies and enable it to serve the public more efficiently. It will be a vitally needed addition to the center of our Capital City.

After all Jackson is the historical capital of our state and must be supported by all of us. The vitality of its center must be preserved.

Many years ago when I was a state representative from my home county of Grenada a bill was introduced to give the smaller, less affluent counties like mine a much larger share of the gasoline tax at the expense of richer counties like Hinds. My Grenada County colleague, Bill Semmes, and I voted against it because we thought it was unfair to the capital city. We were both criticized by some of our constituents, but three years later we were both reelected without opposition.

People usually reward fairness on the part of their public officials. I believe they will do that in this case.

Our legislators now have the opportunity to make a decision that will clearly be in the public interest. I respectfully urge them to do that.

William Winter

Former governor of Mississippi

Jackson

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Dept. of Revenue belongs downtown

I have never written many letters to you for publication, but now I take this opportunity to write this one about an issue that I think is of great importance to the people of Jackson and of our